Award for a life saved

An Ettalong resident has been awarded a Surf Livesaving Rescue of the Month award after she assisted a woman in trouble while on her postal delivery route.

Ms Sharon Bryant, a volunteer surf life saver at Ocean Beach, was on her postal route on Monday, September 12, when she heard cries for help coming from the house to which she was delivering mail.

Ms Bryant immediately made her way to the front of the house to find a young woman bent over and clutching at her left wrist which was covered in blood.

She grabbed her leather gloves and mobile phone from her motorbike.

Ms Bryant then quickly gathered a full explanation of what had occurred from the patient.

The patient had, from Sharon's observation, lost a lot of blood already and action needed to be immediately taken to stem the blood flow.

Ms Bryant dialed 000 and requested an ambulance then took an old curtain from inside the house and applied direct pressure to the open wound.

The patient at this stage had become uncooperative and Ms Bryant calmed the patient to stop her from causing any further harm to herself.

She remained with the patient and kept pressure on the wound until the ambulance arrived.

The ambulance officers were full of praise for Sharon and said that without her intervention the patient would not have survived.

Ms Donna Wishart of Surf Life Saving NSW said that Ms Bryant was chosen for the award because her quick thinking, her first aid skills and calmness in the face of a difficult situation saved the patient's life.

Email, 9 Nov 2011 Donna Wishart, SLS NSW